*Jolene's POV*

A few hours after the incident this morning I'm still a little weary of being around Norman. Maybe I'm in over my head. Even if I am, there's no way I can get out of this now. I can't. I couldn't do that to Norman. Even if he is having.."issues"..and I am putting myself in danger, I can't ditch him. I'm somewhat afraid to. He knows so much about me that he could singlehandedly ruin my life if he wanted to.

But, I do love Norman. I know he possesses good character that goes unnoticed by many. I may have doubts, but he's my best friend. He treats me better than anyone ever has.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts by him walking into the living room. "Hey Jolene, what do you think about reopening the motel?" I pick at my fingernails. "Well, Norman, I think you should do what you want, but do you think people would actually stay there? I mean, considering.." "Considering what?" "Norman, you know exactly what I mean. Don't make me say it."

His face falls and he plops down next to me. "Yeah, you're right." Now he's making me feel bad. "But hey, it's worth a shot!" He furrows his eyebrows, looking over at me. "What?" "We can go down there and clean it and stuff..if you really wanna reopen it." He half smiles, standing up and holding his hand out to pull me off the couch. Once I'm on my feet, he trails off into the kitchen. Probably for cleaning supplies.

"Are you ready to go down there?" He asks, handing me a mop and bucket. I nod, stopping to slip on my shoes as he leads me out the door.

After we've been cleaning for about an hour we hear a car pull up outside the motel, the tires crunching the gravel. I glance out the front window and see a cop car, then turn to Norman with a look of fear drawn on my face. "He's probably just stopping by. It's ok." He steps past me. "Hello Sheriff, what can I do for you?" He puts on a casual front as the policeman gets out of his car. How does he do that?

"Hi, Norman. I was just stopping by. I wasn't aware you were back from the..hospital and I was making sure someone wasn't trespassing." Norman nods. "Ah, nope. All is good here. Just cleaning up the motel a little bit. Hoping to get it reopened soon."

The policeman nods. He looks over Normans shoulder at me and I feel my stomach drop. "Who's this here?"

Norman turns, smiling and putting his hand on my back. "This is Jolene Peterson. She's a good friend of mine. I met her at- I met her a few months ago."

The cop smiles at me, and I force one back. "Well, Norman, I'll leave you alone. Let me know if you need anything." The police walks back to his car. "Thank you sir, I sure will."

He stands in the doorway smiling as the cop drives off. As soon as the car is out of sight he scoffs, turning to me. "I hate when they do that."

"Do what?"

"Always coming out here to 'check on me'. I hate it." He leans against the front desk. I nod, looking around at the pictures on the wall and he clears his throat. "Well, I'm gonna start on room one. I need to put a shower curtain in there."

"Oh? Is there not one in there?"

He opens a cabinet behind the front desk, pulling a folded up clear shower curtain out. "No. My last guest that stayed in there tore it down."

"Oh, okay." I look into the parlor behind the office, seeing several taxidermied animals, which sends a chill down my spine. "Norman, do you hunt animals?"

"Huh?" He turns away from the cabinet. "Oh, no. I don't."

"So you don't do taxidermy?"

"Yes I do taxidermy, I just don't kill the animals myself."

I look back at them, getting chills again. Why does it surprise me that he's fine with doing taxidermy? Richard used to do taxidermy, but he also hunted animals. That was one of the many things we disagreed on.

Richard. I've been so distracted I almost forgot about him. He's dead. His body is hidden. I never have to take his abuse again.

What if his parents have come looking for him? What if they found his body? What if they have a whole squad out looking for me, ready to end my life with lethal injection? My stomach churns at the thoughts and I run outside onto the gravel, vomiting up my feelings.

"Jolene? Are you ok?" I hear Norman call from room one.

More vomit comes up, and I hear him drop the mop bucket, then his footsteps coming up behind me.

"Jolene.." He says in a soothing voice, holding my hair back with one hand and rubbing my shoulder with the other.

"What's wrong?" He leads me over to room one, sitting me down on the bed. He goes in the bathroom and wets a wash cloth, wringing it out and bringing it to me.

"I just thought about Richard and..what if I get caught, Norman? I can't go to prison. I just can't." "You won't get caught. And if you do..I'll take the blame." I give him a look like he's crazy. "What?"

"It's not like I have anything better to live for."

"Norman, why would you even think about doing that for me?"

"Because, I..I care about you. A lot. More than you know."

I shake my head. "Do you not see any kind of future for yourself?"

"Why should I?" He asks, shrugging nonchalantly.

That's heartbreaking, but more than likely true. He's probably never gonna get married or have children. He'll never have a normal job or be seen as a well respected man. What happens if he does meet a woman? 'I'm 6'2, allergic to cats, oh yeah, and I've killed several people.' I mean, it's not like he's ever gonna live a normal life. He never had a fighting chance.

/

Is "taxidermied" even a word?